The opening game of tonight’s historic slate at Madison Square Garden pits the underdog UConn Huskies against the Iowa State Cyclones who lost one of its top players in big man Georges Niang due to injury in its victory over North Carolina last weekend. The Cyclones are an offensive juggernaut, ranking sixth in the nation in scoring and first in assists per game, while the Huskies go as point guard Shabazz Napier goes—if he’s playing well, UConn is tough to beat. Matched up against Napier is Cyclones point guard DeAndre Kane, who has emerged as one of the top players in the Tournament and has quickly caught the attention of media outlets and NBA scouts.

On the sidelines are head coaches Fred Hoiberg and Kevin Ollie. Hoiberg, known as ‘The Mayor’ around Ames, Iowa, played his college basketball at Iowa State and is as beloved as any coach in the nation. After long time head coach Jim Calhoun retired, Ollie was tasked with taking over and returning the program to prominence after UConn was punished with a post-season ban after numerous infractions. Interestingly, the two have a long relationship with one another as they were both being recruited to Arizona during high school and crossed paths many a time while playing in the NBA.

During yesterday’s practice, players and coaches from each team spoke with the media to give their thoughts on the game. Here’s the best of what they had to say…

UConn

On stopping DeAndre Kane and Iowa State’s offense…

Kevin Ollie: DeAndre Kane is just a great player. He puts so much pressure on you. We have to keep him in front. He’s also a 6-4 point guard that Fred [Hoiberg] puts on the post and posts up a lot. We’re going to have to really, really load against him and have him see a lot of jerseys that say “Connecticut”. It’s going to have to be ten eyes on him at all times. Shabazz is going to guard him, Niels [Giffey] is going to guard him, Our whole team is going to try to guard him, hopefully we can stop him.

I know they’re missing George Niang, but you got the Big‑12 Player of the Year in [Melvin] Ejim. And he’s a load, a pick‑and‑pop guy, just like DeAndre and Niels, where he can go out in the post, but he can also pick‑and‑pop on pick‑and‑rolls.

And all their guys seem like they can shoot. I don’t know if Fred is back there teaching them how to shoot, but they all shoot like Fred and when Fred took a shot, I always thought it went in. So all those guys shoot, they always catch shot ready and ready to make an impact on the game. The first key for us is to get back in transition, they score a lot in the first 15 seconds, and if we can guard then, I think it can really help establish our defense in the half court. But we got to get back in transition. We got to get to the paint, and then we got to run their shooters off the 3‑point line.

Shabazz Napier: Kane is a great player, I think he’s definitely their motor, he gets them going. That’s what great players do. He’s seen and experienced everything throughout this whole year. We just got to try our best to contain him, and they shoot a lot of threes and they make a lot of threes. We got to do a good job of contesting shots, we got to do a good job of rebounding the ball. We got to do a good job overall as a team of controlling the tempo we want.

Melvin Ejim is always going to create a problem because how good he is, Big‑12 Player of the Year, and we just got to do our best with all the guys that they have, and we just got to play our game.

On the impact of Shabazz Napier…

Kevin Ollie: I know Shabazz is ready, he’s been ready the whole season. He’s been ready last year when we couldn’t go to the NCAA Tournament. So he’s not scared of this moment. That’s not saying he’s going to have this great game. He’s going to do whatever it takes for us to win. If that’s rebounding, that’s getting 11 rebounds, if that’s being a facilitator getting 10 assists, that’s what he’s going to do. If that’s being on the bench cheering his teammates on when Terrence Samuel in there, that’s what he’s going to do. He’s not scared of this moment and we’re not scared of this moment.

On rebuilding the UConn program…

Kevin Ollie: It’s all the dedication, the hard work that they did to get our school through them down times when everybody was saying the school and the program was not going to make it. Those kids dug their heels in and said, yeah, we are going to make it. And we’re going to be loyal to the program, and you reap the benefits when you do that.

If it wasn’t Shabazz and it wasn’t for our seniors taking on that pressure of saying, OK, I’m not going to leave. I’m going to stay here. I know Coach [Calhoun] is retiring. I know we’re going to a new conference, but UConn is still on our chest, and we’re going to keep believing. I really appreciate my support staff, my coaches, my AD, my president believing in us that we were going to make it through, and those players did it.

Shabazz Napier: I felt that I owed a lot to the university. My sophomore year I didn’t play the way I was supposed to. I wasn’t a great leader, and I felt like I owed a lot to the university. I felt like they stayed loyal to me and I wanted to stay loyal back. When you have that trust in someone and trust in the university to always have your back, if you run out on them, I don’t think that’s fair.

I grew up with a loyal family and I continue to still have that loyal family with the University of Connecticut. I think that’s the biggest thing, when you come Connecticut you learn two things: You learn the brotherhood and you learn how to stay loyal. That’s what I’ve learned and I continue to push myself to understand that.

Iowa State

On the DeAndre Kane-Shabazz Napier matchup…

DeAndre Kane: I’m not looking at it as a one-and-one matchup. I know a lot of people is. He’s a great player. He does a lot of things for his team. He’s a leader out there. He makes big shots when they need it. He rebounds the ball, to be as small as he is, as good a guard does in the country. He puts his team in great positions to win. But we’re going to do whatever we can to slow him down, slow him down in transition and we’ll take it from there.

Fred Hoiberg: Two guys that love having the ball in their hands in clutch time. [Napier], I’m not sure I’ve seen a better guard in college basketball this year with what he does at the toughest time of the game. He’s just a hard‑nosed, tough kid that knows how to play. DeAndre is the same for us. When we need something to happen, we put the ball in his hands.

On the loss of Georges Niang…

Fred Hoiberg: Every game I have a play card where I draw plays that I think will expose the team we’re playing against. One side of the card is DeAndre and the other side is Georges, and then some other actions sprinkled in for some of our other players. So to basically have to throw out half of what we do and who we run it through is a judgment.

But I give a lot of credit to our guys for stepping in and filling in, and you can’t replace him with one person. It’s got to be a collective effort, and our guys did a great job of that against North Carolina.

On Iowa State’s program and playing style…

Melvin Ejim: From the coaching side, [Coach Hoiberg] done a lot of great things, but I think one of the most important things is just the type of scheme that we have. They brought in guys that were going to be successful four‑year players, and then they brought in guys that could help the program right away–a transfer like DeAndre who can impact the program right away.

When you have a coach who comes out in the locker room and does a bogus dance—not bogus, it was pretty good–but it does a lot for the team chemistry. I think outside of coaching, just the family relationships that he makes us build, and the things that we do outside of the game really helps the culture of our program.

Fred Hoiberg: To get our guys out there trying to play the right way, trying to play unselfishly, which we have gone a great job with that, leading the nation in assists, in trying to get out and play fast, that’s something that we do and we have thrived in.

The biggest message to our guys is if they go out and move the ball and have great spacing, you’re going to get good looks. That’s kind of what our offense is designed to do, to draw two guys onto one space of the floor and make the proper play.

With all respect due to ACC champs and No. 1 seed Virginia, the Spartans are finally healthy and are the team most poised to make a run to the Final Four. No senior class under Tom Izzo has failed to make the Final Four, and the graduating class of 2014 certainly won’t be the first. The Spartans are loaded with talent at every position and stormed through the Big Ten tournament en route to the Conference Championship where they defeated in-state rival Michigan for the first time this season. Michigan State was seeded much too low at four and are in the weakest region. Big 12 Champ Iowa State certainly poses a formidable foe if the two meet in the Elite Eight but the Spartans should survive and advance.

Sleeper: No. 10 St. Joseph’s

Led by big man Halil Kanacevic, who averages 10.7 points, 8.8 boards and 4.4 assists, and head coach Phil Martelli, St. Joe’s has won 20 of its last 25 games and surprised everyone by upsetting VCU and winning the tough A-10 Conference. The Hawks drew UConn in its second round matchup and if they can beat the Huskies, will likely face Villanova, setting up a great rivalry game early on in the Tournament. St. Joe’s is a balanced, battle-tested, rugged team who can hang with anyone in the East.

Providence is riding high after winning the Big East Tournament and senior guard Bryce Cotton is playing as well as anyone in the country. Head coach Ed Cooley has done a tremendous job with the program and the Friars are making their first tournament appearance in 10 years. The Friars have little depth but the combination of LaDontae Henton, Tyler Harris and Kadeem Batts up front cause a lot of matchup problems due to their length and defensive ability. The Tar Heels have been inconsistent all season and are a vulnerable team, especially if Cotton gets hot.

Head coach Tommy Amaker has done a fantastic job rebuilding the Crimson program—which we wrote about at length in SLAM 175—and Harvard is upset-minded for the second straight season. Five different Crimson players score in double-figures and the Ivy League Champs have Tournament experience after last year’s second round win. Cincinnati is one of the top defensive teams in the nation and are lead by guard Sean Kilpatrick, who is also the team’s lone scoring threat. The game will likely be a slow-paced, grind it out affair which favors Cincy. But if the Crimson can slow down Kilpatrick, Amaker’s team has a great chance of advancing for the second straight season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Marcus Paige, G, North Carolina

The Bryce Cotton-Marcus Paige matchup may be the best head-to-head battle to keep an eye on in the “opening” round. Paige really blossomed toward the end of the season and has been awesome during the second half of game, doing most of his damage during crunch time. The sophomore guard is averaging 17.4 points, 3.3 boards and 4.3 assists per game and will need to put together full 40-minute performances to give the Tar Heels a chance at a deep run.

Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincy

A gifted scorer hailing from Westchester, NY, Kilpatrick averaged 20.7 points per game during the season and may be as important to his teams successes as any player in the country. A tough-minded defensive team, the Bearcats have a chance to make a run if the senior is able to score at his usual rate.

The sophomore guard is the Spartans’ best offensive player and looking to improve his draft stock with a few big games. The sweet-shooting Harris can hit from long range and is strong enough to get the rack and finish at the rim. Harris battled injuries during his freshman season but came back strong his sophomore year to average 17.1 points, 4.2 boards and 2.7 assists per game.

Bryce Cotton, G, Providence

Bryce Cotton is college basketball’s ironman. Thanks to multiple double-overtime games this season, Cotton averaged 40 minutes per game on the season and finally got his due shine when he won the Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. The senior is one of the most versatile players in the NCAA; after leading the Big East in scoring last season, Cotton played more on ball this season due to injuries and led the Big East in assists.

Melvin Ejim, F, Iowa State

The senior forward averaged 18.1 points, 8.5 boards and 1.8 assists per game while leading the Cyclones to the Big 12 Championship and took home Big 12 Player of the Year. If the Cyclones are to make a run to the Final Four—which they are more than capable of doing—it will be because of the play of Ejim.

PREDICTION

Michigan State outlasts Iowa State in an epic Elite Eight matchup at the Garden to advance to North Texas.